Pole climbing safety device and seat



March 31, 1959 J. M. JOHNSON POLE CLIMBING SAFETY DEVICE AND SEAT 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 3, 1957 Fig.2

E ww m 5 M m M Q w March 31, 1959 J. M. JOHNSON 2,879,830

POLE CLIMBING SAFETY DEVICE AND SEAT FiIed Dec. 3, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2John M Johnson 4 1N VEN TOR.

WWW -May POLE CLIMBING SAFETY DEVICE AND SEAT John M. Johnson,Lindsborg, Kans.

Application December 5, 1957, Serial No. 700,482

3 Claims. (Cl- 155-78) This invention relates generally to safetydevices, and more particularly to a safety device and a novel andmovable safety seat for assisting pole or tree climbers.

The primary object of this invention is a provide'a'pole climbing safetydevice and seat, which may be attached to the conventional safety beltworn by pole climbers and which will prevent a climber from sliding downa pole if the climber should accidentally slip from his position.

Another object of this invention is to provide a safety device havingspikes thereon, so that when a pole climber slips or when he does notproperly engage his spurs into the pole, the safety device will' graspthe pole and prevent the climber from falling to the ground. This isparticularly important since" these climbers have a great strain placedon their legs and back while they are working on the pole. This isoccasioned because of the angleand nited htates Patent Q brace positionwhich the climber must assume while working on the pole, and because ofthis, the clirnbers legs must be flexed to support at least twice thecliinbers weight. In addition, the spurs worn by pole climbers place anadditional strain on the climber because of the peculiarities ofposition occasioned thereby; A great number of accidents have been'caused because the pole climber while working became so exhausted thatproper care was not used.

Yet a further object of this invention is to provide a seat for poleclimbers, whereby these climbers may rest in a seated position whileworking at dangerous heights.

Yet a further object of this invention is to provide novel means forclamping this safety device to the conventional type of safety belt, sothat the slipping of the belt out of the clamping device is virtuallyimpossible. In addition, this device serves to prevent the twisting ofthe safety belt so that the problem of twisted safety belts is obviated.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the pole climbing safety device andseat illustrating the same as would be used on a pole;

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantiallyalong the plane defined by reference line 2-2 of Figure 1, illustratingdetails of construction of the clamping means thereon;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along theplane defined by reference line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an elevational plan view of a portion of the deviceillustrated in Figure 1, illustrating the relationship of the spikes,the attaching eyelet, and the clamping means;

Figure 5 is a side elevational view illustraing the pole climbing safetyseat comprising a portion of the present invention;

Patented Mar. 31, 1959 Figure 6 is a front elevational view of thedevice illustrated in Figure 5, illustrating the structuralrelationships therein; and

Figure 7 is an elevational plan view taken substantially along the planedefined by reference line 77 of Figure 5.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10generally designates the pole climbing safety device, and the numeral 12generally designates the safety seat to be used in connection therewith.

The safety device 10 is constructed of a horizontal hollow tube 14,having vertical, upstanding, tubular stationary jaws 16 mounted ateither end thereof. Mounted internally of tube 14, are telescopicextension sections 18 and 20, which have movable arcuate jaws 22 and 24respectively connected in upstanding relation near the outer endthereof, by means of welding 26. Extension 18 has a closed end 28 havinga horizontal threaded aperture 30 formed therethrough. On either side ofclosed end 28, and in alignment with aperture 30, are mounted nuts 32,which threadedly receive a threaded portion at 34 of shank 36. Shank 36is journaled in bearing 38 which is secured in the outer end ofextension 20. This shank 36 has a crank handle 40 which allows rotationof shank 36, and correspondingly will move extension 18 and 20 eithertoward or away from each other. A coil spring 42 is located internallyof tube 14 and abuts against the inner ends of extensions 18 and 20, soas to constantly urge them away from each other.

Downwardly facing hooks 44 are connected to the upper edges of movablejaws 22 and 24. These hooks areused to hold the safety belt in placewith relation to safety device 10. In addition, another means forholding the safety belt in place, is a spring urged clamp 46 which has avertically depending shank 48 which extends downwardly' into avertically disposed cylinder 50. The cylinder 50 is secured to the jaw24 to the right of the vertical center of the jaw 24, as viewed inFigure l, and has a closed bottom. This clamp 46 is constantly beingurged downwardly by means of coil spring 52 which is connected betweenthe lower end of shank 48 and the bottom of cylinder 50.

In use, the conventional pole climbing safety belt 54 would be placedabout the waist of a climber. Then, pole engaging belt 56 would bepartially placed about the pole and connected to the waist belt of theclimber. Crank handle 40 would be rotated so as to open the jaws, andbelt 56 would be placed therein and the jaws then closed tightly uponthe belt. Open hooks 44 would engage the top of belt 56' so that safetydevice 10 would be held securely thereto. Additionally, spring urgedclamp 46 would be secured to one corner of belt 56. A plurality of.sharp teeth-58am connected to and extend outwardly from hollow tube 14.Thus, if a climber should slip, the teeth 58 would engage the pole andgive the climber a chance to recover, thus averting an accident. Anoutwardly projecting flange 62 is connected to hollow tube 14 and has aneyelet 64 formed therein for the purpose of accommodating a safety seatattachment to be described below.

Safety seat 12 is constructed of a main frame member 70, having sharpteeth 72 formed at the lower end thereof for the purpose of engaging apole 60. At the upper end of main frame 70 is a downwardly facing openhook portion 74. A U-shaped spring clamp 76 is pivoted at 78 to mainframe 70. A coil spring 80 located therein serves to urge U-shapedmember 76 to the left to the position illustrated in Figure 5 so as toeffectively close open loop shaped portion 74. It may be seen that loopshaped portion 74 is engaged through eyelet 64 so as to connect seatportion 12 to safety device 10. A brace member 82 is connected angularlyto main frame 70 at the lower end mounted on parallel members 86, and astrap 92 is riveted thereto by means of rivet 94. An open hook 96 isconnected to the rear portion of main frame 70, and opens downwardly, soas to accommodate flange 88, and lock this flange securely therein. Theweight of a pole climber on seat portion 90 will serve to further lockflange portion 88 into open loop 96. A spring latch 98 is also connectedto the rear portion of main frame 70 and is constantly urged away fromthe main frame 70 and toward open hook 96.

Game free end of strap 92 a hook 100 is connected, which'is to beengaged with the rear portion of a waist belt worn by pole climbers.

In use, the safety device would be set up in the position illustrated inFigure 1, and a pole climber wearing waist belt 54 may then safely climbup pole 60. If desired, the safety seat 12 may also be carried up thepole. To facilitate easier hand'ing of the safety seat 12 when climbingthe pole, the seat would be unlatched from an open hook 96 and moved tothe dotted line position illustrated in Figure 5. Then, the pole climbermay either carry the safety seat 12 in his hands, or allow it to dangleby strap 92, or connected to eyelet 64. When the climber desires to usethe seat, it is merely necessary to engage spike 72 into the pole 60,connect hook 100 to belt 54, and hook 74 to eyelet 64, and when theclimber assumes a seated position, seat portion 90 will be lowered. Thusthe climber may work in a partially relaxed condition. When the climberdesires to move the seat upwardly or downwardly on a pole, it is merelynecessary for him to engage his spurs into pole 60 and assume a standingposition, whereby the strap 92 will pull upwardly and remove spike 72from pole 60. The climber may then climb up or down the pole to anotherworking location.

It may now be seen that I have herein shown and described a new andimproved type of pole climbing safety device.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A safety device for climbing poles comprising a body, means on saidbody for engagement with a pole, means for clamping a safety belt tosaid body, a frame, means for detachably connecting said frame to saidbody, means on said frame for engagement with a pole, a seat, meanspivotally mounting said seat on said frame, said clamping meansincluding a stationary jaw on each end of said body, a movable jaw oneach end of said body movable toward and away from, and in opposition tosaid stationary jaw, means for simultaneously moving each movable jawtoward or away from each stationary jaw, open loops on the upper end ofeach movable jaw, and means for urging the safety belt toward said bodywhereby the safety belt may be positively held in position by saidclamping means.

2. A safety device for climbing poles comprising a body, means on saidbody for engagement with a pole, means for clamping a safety belt tosaid body, a frame, means for detachably connecting said frame to saidbody, means on said frame for engagement with a pole, a seat mounted onsaid frame, said clamping means including a stationary jaw on each endof said body, a movable jaw on each end of said body movable toward andaway from and in opposition to said stationary jaw, means forsimultaneously moving each movable jaw toward or away from eachstationary jaw, open loops on the upper end of each movable jaw, andmeans for urging the safety belt toward said body whereby the safetybelt may be positively held in position by said clamping means.

3. A safety device for climbing poles comprising a body, means on saidbody for engagement with a pole, means for clamping a safety belt tosaid body, a frame, means for detachably connecting said frame to saidbody, means on said frame for engagement with a pole, a seat, meanspivotally mounting said seat on said frame, said clamping meansincluding a stationary jaw on each end of said body, a movable jaw oneach end of said body movable toward and from, and in opposition to saidstationary jaw, means for simultaneously moving each movable jaw towardor away from each stationary jaw, open loops on the upperend of eachmovable jaw, and means for urging the safety belt toward said bodywhereby the safety belt may be positively held in position by saidclamping means, means on said seat for detachably connecting the latterto a safety belt.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS531,815 Wade Jan. 1, 1895 857,203 Randall June 18, 1907 882,850 TroellMar. 24, 1908 908,781 Lanham Jan. 5, 1909 983,875 Copet-Hardenne Feb.14, 1911 1,153,583 Stoolfire Sept. 14, 1915 1,721,516 Jacobs July 23,1929 1,801,158 Howe Apr. 14, 1931 1,915,715 Bodendieck June 27, 19332,254,179 Hoyt Aug. 26, 1941 2,601,589 Childers June 24, 1952 2,775,489Hagadorn Dec. 25, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 368,920 France Dec. 21, 1906729,566 Great Britain May 11, 1955

